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Oct 


THE  VISION  OF  MIRZAH 
BY  JOSEPH  ADDISON^? 


SAN  FRANCISCO 

THE  BOOK  CLUB  OF  CALIFORNIA 

MDCCCCXVII 


From  the  edition  of  Addison's  Works 

Printed  by  John  Baskeryille,  Birmingham 

Mdcclxi 


JOSEPH  ADDISON  was  born  May  ist,  1672,  at  Biographical 
Milston,nearAmbresbury,  Wiltshire England.  ^Npte 
His  father,  the  Reverend  Launcelot  Addison, 
was  Dean  of  Litchfield.  He  received  his  early  ed- 
ucation at  schools  in  the  vicinity  of  his  home  and 
afterward  was  sent  to  Charterhouse,  where  the 
memorable  intimacy  between  him  and  Steele  first 
began.  At  the  early  age  of  fifteen  he  entered 
Queens  College,  Oxford,  and  when  he  had  been 
there  about  two  years,  his  remarkable  skill  in 
Latin  verse  procured  him  a  demy  ship  at  Magda- 
len. He  obtained  his  degree  of  Master  of  Arts 
in  1693  and  a  fellowship  five  years  later. 

During  his  university  career  Addison  devoted 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  Latin  poets  and  at  that 
time  he  had  some  idea  of  making  poetry  his  life 
work.  It  was  through  his  verse  that  he  attracled 
the  attention  of  Lord  Somers  and  Charles  Mon- 
tagu, whose  influence  secured  for  him  a  pension 
of  300  pounds  a  year  from  the  Crown  to  enable 
him  to  travel  abroad.  In  1699  he  set  out  from 

iii 


Biographical  Oxford  for  France,  remaining  there  until  the  end 
^frlpte  of  1700,  after  which  he  passed  twelve  months  in 
Italy.  He  visited  Germany  prior  to  his  return  to 
England  towards  the  end  of  1703. 

The  death  of  King  William  in  1702  and  the 
consequent  fall  of  Addison  s  friends  from  power 
deprived  him  of  his  pension  and  he  was  without 
public  employment  until  late  in  1704,  when  he 
was  given  the  position  of  Commissioner  of  Ap- 
peals in  Excise.  Soon  after  that  he  achieved  po- 
litical distinction,  being  appointed  Under  Secre- 
tary of  State  in  1706  and,  two  years  later,  Chief 
Secretary  for  Ireland.  After  Queen  Anne's  death 
in  17 14  he  was  made  Secretary  to  the  Lord  Jus- 
tices and  the  Regency.  In  August,  1716,  he  mar- 
ried Charlotte,  Countess  Dowager  of  Warwick, 
and  in  April  of  the  following  year  was  named 
by  King  George  as  one  of  his  principal  Secretar- 
ies of  State.  He  died  June  17th,  1719,  at  Holland 
House  and  was  buried  in  Poets'  Corner  in  West- 
minster Abbey. 
iv 


Addison  has  enriched  English  literature  by  his  Biographical 
poems,  his  plays,  his ri 'Italian  Travels"  and  by  the  cfr(pte 
immortal  papers  which  hare  crowned  the  crTat- 
ler,"  the  rrSpeclator"  and  the  rr Guardian  "  with 
lasting  fame.  His  style  has  been  held  up  as  a 
model  of  classical  English;  witness  the  testimony 
of  Macaulay,  who  says  that  in  delicacy  of  wit, 
fertility  of  imagination  and  grace  of  expression  his 
best  essays  approach  near  to  absolute  perfeclion. 


Omnem  quce  nunc  obducla  tuenti 

Mortales  hebetat  visus  tibi,  et  humida  circum 
Caligat,  nubem  eripiam 


When  I  was  at  Grand  Cairo  I  picked  up  The 
several  oriental  Manuscripts,  which  ^Vision  of 
I  have  still  by  me.  Among  others  I  Mirzah 
met  with  one  entitled  The  'Visions  of  Mirzah, 
which  I  have  read  over  with  great  pleasure. 
I  intend  to  give  it  to  the  public  when  I  have 
no  other  entertainment  for  them ;  and  shall 
begin  with  the  first  Vis  ion,  which  I  have  trans- 
lated word  for  word  as  follows. 
"  On  the  fifth  day  of  the  moon,  which  ac- 
cording to  the  custom  of  my  fore- fathers  I 
''  always  keep  holy,  after  having  washed  my- 
self, and  offered  up  my  morning  devotions, 
I  ascended  the  high  hills  oiBagdat,  in  order 
to  pass  the  rest  of  the  day  in  meditation  and 
prayer.  As  I  was  here  airing  myself  on  the 
tops  of  the  mountains,  I  fell  into  a  profound 
contemplation  on  the  vanity  of  human  life; 
and  passing  from  one  thought  to  another, 
Surely,  said  I,  man  is  but  a  shadow  and  life 
"a  dream.  Whilst  I  was  thus  musing,  I  cast 


The  "  my  eyes  towards  the  summit  of  a  rock  that 
^Vision  of  "  was  not  far  from  me,  where  I  discovered  one 
Mirzah  "  in  the  habit  of  a  shepherd,  with  a  musical  in- 
"  strument  in  his  hand.  As  I  looked  upon  him 
"  he  applied  it  to  his  lips,  and  began  to  play  up- 
"  on  it.  The  sound  of  it  was  exceeding  sweet, 
"  and  wrought  into  a  variety  of  tunes  that  were 
"  inexpressibly  melodious,  and  altogether  dif- 
"  ferent  from  any  thing  I  had  ever  heard.  They 
"  put  me  in  mind  of  those  heavenly  airs  that 
"are  played  to  the  departed  souls  of  good 
"  men  upon  their  first  arrival  in  paradise,  to 
"  wear  out  the  impressions  of  their  last  ago- 
"  nies,  and  qualify  them  for  the  pleasures  of 
"  that  happy  place.  My  heart  melted  away  in 
"  secret  raptures. 

"I  had  been  often  told  that  the  rock  be- 
"  fore  me  was  the  haunt  of  a  Genius ;  and  that 
"several  had  been  entertained  with  music 
"  who  had  passed  by  it,  but  never  heard  that 
"the  musician  had  before  made  himself  visi- 


"  ble.  When  he  had  raised  my  thoughts,  by  The 
"  those  transporting  airs  which  he  played,  to  ^Vision  of 
"  taste  the  pleasures  of  his  conversation,  as  I  Mirzah 
"  looked  upon  him  like  one  astonished,  he 
"  beckoned  to  me,  and  by  the  waving  of  his 
"hand  directed  me  to  approach  the  place 
"  where  he  sat.  I  drew  near  with  that  rever- 
"  ence  which  is  due  to  a  superior  nature ;  and 
"as  my  heart  was  intirely  subdued  by  the 
"captivating  strains  I  had  heard,  I  fell  down 
"  at  his  feet  and  wept.  The  Genius  smiled  up- 
"  on  me  with  a  look  of  compassion  and  affa- 
"  bility  that  familiarized  him  to  my  imagina- 
"  tion,  and  at  once  dispelled  all  the  fears  and 
"apprehensions  with  which  I  approached 
"  him.  He  lifted  me  from  the  ground,  and 
"  taking  me  by  the  hand,  Mirzah,  said  he,  I 
"  have  heard  thee  in  thy  soliloquies,  follow  me. 
"  He  then  led  me  to  the  highest  pinnacle 
"  of  the  rock,  and  placing  me  on  the  top  of 
"  it,  Cast  thy  eyes  eastward,  said  he,  and  tell 


The  "  me  what  thou  seest.  I  see,  said  I,  a  huge 
Vision  of  "  valley  and  a  prodigious  tide  of  water  rolling 
Mirzah  "  through  it.  The  valley  that  thou  seest,  said 
"  he,  is  the  vale  of  misery,  and  the  tide  of  wa- 
"  ter  that  thou  seest,  is  part  of  the  great  tide 
"  of  Eternity.  What  is  the  reason,  said  I,  that 
"  the  tide  I  see  rises  out  of  a  thick  mist  at  one 
"end, and  again  loses  itself  in  a  thick  mist  at 
"the  other?  What  thou  seest,  said  he,  is  that 
"portion  of  Eternity  which  is  called  Time, 
"  measured  out  by  the  Sun,  and  reaching  from 
"  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  its  consum- 
"mation.  Examine  now,  said  he,  this  sea  that 
"  is  thus  bounded  with  darkness  at  both  ends, 
"  and  tell  me  what  thou  discoverest  in  it.  I  see 
"  a  bridge,  said  I,  standing  in  the  midst  of  the 
"  tide.  The  bridge  thou  seest,  said  he,  is  hu- 
"man  life;  consider  it  attentively.  Upon  a 
"  more  leisurely  survey  of  it,  I  found  that  it 
"  consisted  of  threescore  and  ten  entire  arches, 
"with  several  broken  arches, which  added  to 


"  those  that  were  entire,  made  up  the  number  The 
"about  an  hundred.  As  I  was  counting  the  "Vision  of 
"arches,  the  Genius  told  me  that  this  bridge  Mirzah 
"consisted  at  first  of  a  thousand  arches ;  but 
"that  a  great  flood  swept  away  the  rest,  and 
"left  the  bridge  in  the  ruinous  condition  I 
"  now  beheld  it.  But  tell  me  further,  said  he, 
"  what  thou  discoverest  on  it.  I  see  multitudes 
"  of  people  passing  over  it,  said  I,  and  a  black 
"  cloud  hanging  on  each  end  of  it.  As  I  looked 
"more  attentively,  I  saw  several  of  the  pas- 
"  sengers  dropping  through  the  bridge,  into 
"  the  great  tide  that  flowed  underneath  it;  and 
"upon  further  examination,  perceived  there 
"were  innumerable  trap-doors  that  lay  con- 
cealed in  the  bridge,  which  the  passengers 
"no  sooner  trod  upon,  but  they  fell  through 
"them  into  the  tide, and  immediately  disap- 
"  peared.  These  hidden  pit-falls  were  set  very 
"thick  at  the  entrance  of  the  bridge,  so  that 
"  throngs  of  people  no  sooner  broke  through 

5 


The  "  the  cloud,  but  many  of  them  fell  into  them. 
'Vision  of  "  They  grew  thinner  towards  the  middle,  but 
Mirzah  "multiplied  and  lay  closer  together  towards 
"the  end  of  the  arches  that  were  entire. 

"There  were  indeed  some  persons,  but 
"  their  number  was  very  small,  that  continued 
"  a  kind  of  hobbling  march  on  the  broken 
"arches,  but  fell  through  one  after  another, 
"  being  quite  tired  and  spent  with  so  long  a 
"walk. 

"  I  passed  some  time  in  the  contemplation 
"of  this  wonderful  structure,  and  the  great 
"  variety  of  obje&s  which  it  presented.  My 
"heart  was  filled  with  a  deep  melancholy  to 
"see  several  dropping  unexpectedly  in  the 
"midst  of  mirth  and  jollity,  and  catching  at 
"  every  thing  that  stood  by  them  to  save  them- 
"  selves.  Some  were  looking  up  toward  the 
"  Heavens  in  a  thoughtful  posture,  and  in  the 
"  midst  of  a  Speculation  stumbled  and  fell  out 
"of  sight.  Multitudes  were  very  busy  in  the 

6 


"  pursuit  of  bubbles  that  glittered  in  their  eyes  The 
"  and  danced  before  them,  but  often  when  'Vision  of 
"they  thought  themselves  within  the  reach  Mirzah 
"of  them,  their  footing  failed  and  down  they 
"sunk.  In  this  confusion  of  obje&s,  I  ob- 
served some  with  Scymetars  in  their  hands, 
"  and  others  with  Urinals,  who  ran  to  and  fro 
"  upon  the  bridge,thrusting  several  persons  on 
"  trap-doors  which  did  not  seem  to  lie  in  their 
"way,  and  which  they  might  have  escaped, 
"had  they  not  been  thus  forced  upon  them. 
"The  Genius  seeing  me  indulge  myself 
"in  this  melancholy  prospedt,  told  me  I  had 
"  dwelt  long  enough  upon  it :  take  thine  eyes 
"off  the  bridge,  said  he,  and  tell  me  if  thou 
"seest  any  thing  thou  dost  not  comprehend. 
"  Upon  looking  up,  What  mean,  said  I,  those 
"great  flights  of  birds  that  are  perpetually 
"hovering  about  the  bridge,  and  settling  up- 
"on  it  from  time  to  time?  I  see  vultures,  har- 
"  peys,  ravens,  cormorants ;  and  among  many 

7 


The  "  other  feathered  creatures  several  little  wing- 

^Vision  of  "ed  boys,  that  perch  in  great  numbers  upon 

Mirzah  "  the  middle  arches.  These,  said  the  Genius, 

"  are  envy,  avarice,  superstition,  despair,  love, 

"  with  the  like  cares  and  passions  that  infest 

"  human  life. 

"I  here  fetched  a  deep  sigh;  Alas,  said  I, 
"  man  was  made  in  vain !  How  is  he  given 
"away  to  misery  and  mortality!  tortured  in 
"  life,  and  swallowed  up  in  death !  The  Genius 
"  being  moved  with  compassion  towards  me, 
"bid  me  quit  so  uncomfortable  a  prospect. 
"  Look  no  more,  said  he,  on  man  in  the  first 
"  stage  of  his  existence,  in  his  setting  out  for 
"Eternity;  but  cast  thine  eye  on  that  thick 
"mist  into  which  the  tide  bears  the  several 
"  generations  of  mortals  that  fall  into  it.  I 
"directed  my  sight  as  I  was  ordered,  and 
"  (whether  or  no  the  good  Genius  strength- 
ened it  with  a  supernatural  force,  or  dissi- 
"pated  part  of  the  mist  that  was  before  too 
8 


"thick  for  the  eye  to  penetrate)  I  saw  the  The 

"valley  opening  at  the  further  end,  and  spread-  Vision  of 

"  ing  forth  into  an  immense  ocean,  that  had  a  Mirzah 

"  huge  rock  of  Adamant  running  through  the 

"midst  of  it,  and  dividing  it  into  two  equal 

"  parts.  The  clouds  still  rested  on  one  half  of 

"  it,  insomuch  that  I  could  discover  nothing 

"in  it:  but  the  other  appeared  to  me  a  vast 

"ocean  planted  with  innumerable  islands, 

"that  were  covered  with  fruits  and  flowers, 

"and  interwoven  with  a  thousand  little  shin- 

"  ing  seas  that  ran  among  them.  I  could  see 

"persons  dressed  in  glorious  habits  with 

"  garlands  upon  their  heads,  passing  among 

"  the  trees,  lying  down  by  the  sides  of  foun- 

"  tains,  or  resting  on  beds  of  flowers ;  and 

"  could  hear  a  confused  harmony  of  singing 

"  birds,  falling  waters,  human  voices,  and  mu- 

"sical  instruments.  Gladness  grew  in  me  up- 

"  on  the  discovery  of  so  delightful  a  scene.  I 

"wished  for  the  wings  of  an  eagle,  that  I 


The 

^Vision  of 

Mirzah 


' might  fly  away  to  those  happy  seats;  but 
'  the  Genius  told  me  there  was  no  passage 
'  to  them,  except  through  the  gates  of  Death 
'  that  I  saw  opening  every  moment  upon  the 
'  bridge.  The  Islands,  said  he,  that  lie  so  fresh 
'  and  green  before  thee,  and  with  which  the 
'  whole  face  of  the  ocean  appears  spotted  as 
'  far  as  thou  canst  see,  are  more  in  number 
'than  the  sands  on  the  sea-shore;  there  are 
'  myriads  of  Islands  behind  those  which  thou 
'  here  disco verest,  reaching  further  than  thine 
'eye  or  even  thine  imagination  can  extend 
'  itself.  These  are  the  mansions  of  good  men 
'after  death,  who  according  to  the  degree 
and  kinds  of  virtue  in  which  they  excelled, 
are  distributed  among  these  several  Islands, 
which  abound  with  pleasures  of  different 
kinds  and  degrees,  suitable  to  the  relishes 
and  perfections  of  those  who  are  settled  in 
them ;  every  Island  is  a  paradise  accommo- 
dated to  its  respective  inhabitants.  Are  not 


10 


"  these,  O  Mirzah,  habitations  worth  contend-  The 

"ing  for?  Does  life  appear  miserable,  that  Vision  of 

"  gives  thee  opportunities  of  earning  such  a  Mirzah 

"reward?  Is  death  to  be  feared, that  will  con- 

"vey  thee  to  so  happy  an  existence?  Think 

"  not  man  was  made  in  vain,  who  has  such  an 

"  Eternity  reserved  for  him.  I  gazed  with  in- 

"  expressible  pleasure  on  these  happy  Islands. 

"At  length  said  I,  shew  me  now,  I  beseech 

"thee,  the  secrets  that  lie  hid  under  those 

"  dark  clouds  which  cover  the  ocean  on  the 

"  other  side  of  the  rock  of  Adamant.  The  Ge- 

"  nius  making  me  no  answer,  I  turned  about 

"  to  address  myself  to  him  a  second  time,  but 

"  I  found  that  he  had  left  me.  I  then  turned 

"again  to  the  vision  which  I  had  been  so 

"  long  contemplating,  but  instead  of  the  roll- 

"  ing  tide,  the  arched  bridge,  and  the  happy 

"  Islands,  I  saw  nothing  but  the  long  hollow 

"valley  of  Tlagdat,  with  oxen,  sheep,  and 

"  camels,  grazing  upon  the  sides  of  it. 

1 1 


Three  hundred  copies  of  this  book 

have  been  printed  by  yohn  Henry  GP{ash 

The  portrait  is  by  Dan  Sweeney 

San  Francisco,  California 

August,  Mdccccxvii 


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